Breaking a lease in New Mexico

The Owner-Resident Relations Act lets a tenant end a rental agreement early in a few cases: your serious repair breach after a seven-day notice, your failure to deliver possession at the start, unlawful or harassing entry, a lockout or cut service, and fire or casualty that substantially impairs the home. It has no section letting a tenant end a lease for domestic violence or military service; federal military law was not read for this page.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-27.1(A)(1) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-26(B) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-24(F) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-36(C) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-31

• If a tenant abandons the home, you may take possession and try to rent it at a fair rent. A new tenancy that starts before the old agreement expires ends the old one. The party harmed must still mitigate its damages. NMSA 1978 § 47-8-34(C) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-6(A)
• When the agreement ends for the tenant's breach, you may claim rent and, separately, damages. NMSA 1978 § 47-8-35
• If you do not deliver possession, rent abates in full and the tenant may end the agreement by written notice; returning all prepaid rent, deposits and fees within seven days, after reasonable efforts to get possession, avoids damages. NMSA 1978 § 47-8-26(B), (C)

Either you or the tenant may end a month-to-month residency with written notice given at least 30 days before the periodic rental date named in the notice. A week-to-week residency ends with written notice at least seven days before the termination date. Without a definite term, a residency is week-to-week when rent is paid weekly and month-to-month otherwise.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-37(A), (B) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15(C)

• If the tenant stays after the agreement ends without your consent, you may sue for possession, and for damages and reasonable attorney's fees if the holdover is willful and not in good faith. If you consent to the tenant staying, the residency becomes periodic. NMSA 1978 § 47-8-37(C) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15(C)